'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The New York Knicks nearly came back from a 25-point deficit on Sunday but the Portland Trail Blazers had enough left in the tank to defeat them 116-113 at Moda Center. Damian Lillard was flawless in the first half, making all of his shots and leading the Blazers to a comfortable 70-50 lead by halftime.
The New York Knicks made several runs in the second half to cut the Blazers lead to as low as four points in the late stages of the fourth quarter. Emmanuel Quickley was the star of the Knicks show but he simply didn’t have enough help for his side to mount a complete comeback.
Here are our 5 hits and flops from the exciting New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers game on Sunday:
Hit: Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
Damian Lillard came out firing in the first quarter and was scorching hot to start the game. He had 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, and five assists by halftime.
The Portland Trail Blazers guard made his first eight shots before missing a short jumper in the third quarter.
Lillard looked like he was trying to make up for the absence of backcourt mate C.J. McCollum, who is out for at least four weeks due to a fractured left foot. The New York Knicks were in the midst of a rally when Lillard made a three with 5:53 left in the fourth quarter to silence them.
The All-Star guard finished the game with 39 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Additionally, he made a franchise-record 66 straight free-throws and hasn’t missed one since January 7.
Flop: RJ Barrett (New York Knicks)
After a terrific stretch of six games in which he averaged 21.7 points per game on 50.5 percent shooting from the floor for the New York Knicks, RJ Barrett was inexplicably tentative from the start and only took nine shots, making four of them.
Barrett scored eight points with no free-throw attempts, underscoring just how detached he seemed to be in this game.
Hit: Immanuel Quickley (New York Knicks)
Immanuel Quickley nearly upstaged Damian Lillard with a 21-point fourth quarter that almost inspired a comeback from a 25-point deficit for the New York Knicks.
The rookie point guard had a stretch where he seemed to make every shot he took. He also made three clutch free-throws with 1:33 remaining to cut the Portland Trail Blazers’ lead to four.
It was a very impressive performance by Quickley, who had a career-high 31 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
The New York Knicks guard calmly sank a total of six free-throws in the final two minutes after he was fouled while shooting a three on two occasions.
Flop: Carmelo Anthony (Portland Trail Blazers)
Carmelo Anthony was ice-cold the whole night, with a frigid 3-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-10 from 3-point territory. When the New York Knicks were making their run in the third and fourth quarters, he missed several shots that allowed the opposition to crawl back into the ballgame.
The former All-Star was so unimpressive that he easily could have been the main culprit had the Portland Trail Blazers lost the game.
His only saving grace was the four clutch free-throws that he made in the last 30.4 seconds of the game to help seal the win.
Hit: Anfernee Simons (Portland Trail Blazers)
With Damian Lillard shooting the lights out in the first half against the New York Knicks, Anfernee Simons decided to follow suit with 13 points of his own.
Simons cooled off in the second half but had 16 points overall on 6-of-9 field-goal shooting to go along with three rebounds and two assists for the Portland Trail Blazers.
